Children’s and Youth Arts Advocacy (CYAA) is a collective of leading national arts organisations, including Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, dedicated to ensuring every child and young person in Scotland can access inclusive, diverse, and transformative arts experiences in alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

The Issues

Despite Scotland’s rich cultural landscape, many children and young people still lack opportunities to engage with the arts, missing out on benefits to their confidence, skills, and emotional wellbeing. Arts organisations across Scotland have long provided life-changing experiences, but these opportunities are under threat without greater recognition and funding.

Children’s and Youth Arts Advocacy (CYAA) has launched a powerful new pledge to ensure every child and young person in Scotland can access inclusive, diverse, and transformative arts experiences. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), now incorporated into Scots law, recognises access to cultural and artistic activities as a fundamental right for all children.

The CYAA Pledge calls for a collective effort to safeguard these essential services, emphasising that arts engagement is not a luxury but a fundamental right that supports mental health, educational outcomes, and the ability to overcome socio-economic challenges.

Sign Now and Make a Difference

• Support Children’s Rights: By signing, you advocate for every child’s right to access cultural and artistic activities, in line with the UNCRC.
• Secure Funding: Your support helps highlight the importance of government funding, and wider resources crucial to sustaining impactful youth arts initiatives.
• Highlight the Power of the Arts: Sign to emphasise the transformative power of the arts for enhancing children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.
• Influence Decision Makers: Join us in urging decision makers to recognise and act upon the significance of arts in children’s development.

By signing the Pledge, supporters enable CYAA to advocate on their behalf, engaging directly with decision-makers to push for necessary changes. This collective support from children, parents, arts
organisations, educators, and youth workers strengthens CYAA’s ability to influence policy, secure funding, and develop strategies that ensure sustained access to arts activities through formal and informal educational settings, recognising their essential role in encouraging young people’s development and wellbeing.

Without increased support and recognition, the valuable contributions of arts organisations risk being diminished. The CYAA Pledge aims to prevent this by rallying public and governmental backing to maintain and expand arts access. This initiative highlights the potential costs of inaction, where young people may lose out on vital developmental opportunities.

We invite everyone – children, parents, educators, arts organisations, youth workers, and community members – to join us in advocating for children’s right to access the arts. By signing the CYAA Pledge, you lend your voice to a powerful collective that will engage with key decision-makers, including the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, and Education Scotland, to push for policy changes and resource allocations that uphold and expand arts access for all children. Together, we can ensure Scotland’s children and young people have the opportunity to thrive through the arts